Narrative Settings: Measure Relationships

Using the Narratives for Tableau extension, you can assign relationships between measures in narratives about multi-measure visualizations.

The three types of relationships are: 'Portion', 'Comparison to Benchmark' and 'Period Comparisons'. This guide will walk through all three relationships in detail.

You can access measure relationships by clicking on "Relationships" in the narrative settings.

Portion Relationships

In this example, we have Central Revenue and Total Revenue plotted over time in a multi-measure line chart. We will want to inform the extension that Central Revenue is actually a 'portion' of Total Revenue.

In narrative settings, click on "Relationships". You will see a list of possible relationships you can apply between measures. Click "Portion" to identify the related measures.

Use the drop downs to specify that one measure is a portion of another. Once the relationship has been applied, it will look like the below.

After you've selected the parent measure (in this case, 'Total Revenue'), your relationship will be saved. You can click the 'X' on the right side in order to remove this relationship. Or, if you had more measures, you could add more relationships. Click 'Narrative' to generate a new narrative.

Continuous Comparison to Benchmark Relationship

Another type of relationship between measures could be when one measure is meant to be the performance benchmark for the other. Examples of this could be comparing the total return of a mutual fund vs. some index or comparing overall sales to a sales target.

After you click "Relationships" in narrative settings, you will see the available relationship types you can apply. Click 'Actual vs. Benchmark' to identify the related measures.

Use the drop downs to select which measure is the metric and which is the benchmark that the metric will be compared to. After inputting the measures, it will look like the below.

You can click the 'x' on the right side in order to remove this relationship. Once you click "Narrative", a new narrative will be generated.

Discrete Comparison to Benchmark Relationship

The benchmark relationship can also be applied in narratives about discrete dimension values. Similar to the continuous analysis, we're comparing a metric to a benchmark, but this is occurring over a discrete dimension. The example here shows the actual vs. scheduled days to deliver across product categories. The goal of this narrative is to show which of the categories get delivered closest to on time.

Once you open up the narrative settings and click "Relationships", you will see the available relationships you can apply. Click 'Actual vs. Benchmark' to identify the related measures.

Use the drop downs to select which measure is the metric and which is the benchmark that the metric will be compared to. After inputting these measures, it will look like the below:

Discrete Analysis Comparison of Time Periods

For this relationship, we are comparing the same metric, but across two different time periods and for a list of discrete dimension values. An example could be looking at current year vs. previous year sales across an entire suite of products. The questions you would be looking to answer are: Which product's sales grew the most? Which product's revenue fell the most? Using this relationship type results in a narrative containing this analysis and insight.

Once you open the narrative settings and click relationships, you will see the available relationship types you can apply. Click 'Current/Most Recent vs. Previous Period' to identify the related measures and supply other information about the relationship.

Use the drop downs to select which measure reflects the 'current/most recent period and which reflects some period in the past. After inputting the measures, you can input how many 'periods' in the past the previous measure is and how those periods should be referenced. The completed relationship will look like the below:

You can click the 'x' on the right side in order to remove this relationship. Once you click "Narrative", a new narrative will be generated.

Messaging

The 'Compare to Benchmark' and 'Time Period Comparison' relationships require certain scenarios in order to be activated. For example, a metric can only be compared to a benchmark if the two measures have the same 'value type', or the time period comparison can only occur in a discrete analysis narrative. The 'Relationships' window within narrative settings will provide the user with a checklist of these conditions.